The "Hone Your Own Peforated Razor Hone"

[fidjit]

Damn you B&B

Picked this up today from a local shop. Why can't I just leave things........

Now I know nothing about honing, so please bear with me.

1. What effect does the perforations have ?
2. This looks pretty flat, it has been used, should I do anything to it to "clean it up " before "trialing" it ?
3. Do I wet the top of the stone first before honing ?
4. The back is green and doesn't get mentioned on the lid. Is it coarser and should it be used before the perforated side ??

All my current rotation razors have been honed by honemeisters, so I assume this is all I need to maintain the edge.

Oh and I do have a clunker I'm going to use for my trial run

Any help greatly appreciated ( as usual )

 

[Chimensch]

Damn you B&B

Picked this up today from a local shop. Why can't I just leave things........

Now I know nothing about honing, so please bear with me.

1. What effect does the perforations have ?
2. This looks pretty flat, it has been used, should I do anything to it to "clean it up " before "trialing" it ?
3. Do I wet the top of the stone first before honing ?
4. The back is green and doesn't get mentioned on the lid. Is it coarser and should it be used before the perforated side ??

All my current rotation razors have been honed by honemeisters, so I assume this is all I need to maintain the edge.

Oh and I do have a clunker I'm going to use for my trial run

Any help greatly appreciated ( as usual )

I don't know anything about this particular hone. The cover says the holes prevent wire edge and overhoning, which is a problem with barber hones in general and why you normally do not more than 5 passes. Most barber hones never need to lapped. It should be used with water mixed with a drop of liquid soap.

 

[Bushranger]

i saw one of these in an antique store (forget which one), I also forgot the price. Was not sure how to work so left it.

 

[Isaac]

I would still lap it if I were you. I have a swaty hone that appeared flat, and yet when i began to flatten it, it was raised in the center.

 

[Chimensch]

I would still lap it if I were you. I have a swaty hone that appeared flat, and yet when i began to flatten it, it was raised in the center.

It's extra work but it wouldn't hurt.

 

[pelicano]

I would still lap it if I were you. I have a swaty hone that appeared flat, and yet when i began to flatten it, it was raised in the center.

Mine certainly needed to be lapped. Doesn't hurt to check.

 

[RetroGrouch]

A friend, an antique dealer, gave me one of these hones this weekend. (Identical, box and all. Posting a photo would be redundant!)

I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Mike

 

[chess1]

it is ok stone but you will not get good edge from it.leaves harsh edge.
it is interesting play around with that stone in fact it will not leave wire edge somehow breaks it.gl

 

[mjclark]

Look! I just picked up one of these too:



Every informed thing I read on these says that they're pretty decent, slightly finer than 8k but that a blade honed on them will require plenty of stropping afterwards for a good result.
We'll see...
...Also, how old are these hones- when were they being sold new?

 

[Gamma]

Always wondered about these hones.

If anything - I'd guess the wire or foil flexes into the hole and get's sheared off or something.

They're kinda cool looking.

 

[mjclark]

Always wondered about these hones.

If anything - I'd guess the wire or foil flexes into the hole and get's sheared off or something.

They're kinda cool looking.

Other threads rate this stone as slightly finer than 8k, so knowing I wasn't in danger of overhoning, I went crazy on this with my Suprema 3/8 as part of the "getting a razor shave ready with extremely limited resources" project:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...teep-Learning-Curve-To-A-Great-Straight-Shave

then I stropped the blade on horsehide like a madman too and the result was a decently sharp, smooth blade that was certainly good for a comfortable shave.

 

[Gamma]

Yeah - heavy stropping after a b-hone is always highly recommended.

 

[mjclark]

Yeah - heavy stropping after a b-hone is always highly recommended.

Yeah- I'm getting a decent result now with a 6k slate then this 8k perforated hone then that horsehide strop.
It's a nice comfortable shave, and I guess the next step is to get some kind of 12k finishing solution to bump up the sharpness a bit.

Playing around like this is really helping to take a lot of the mystery out of honing, and I greatly appreciate all the input I'm getting from members with more experience and accomplishment.

 

[Gamma]

Look for a finer B-hone if you want to take the down-dirty method a bit further.

Or - refinish the top of the one/s you have with a finer grit w/d after lapping it perfectly flat.
1k w/d does nice things to a b-hone.
Warning - that can take some serious elbow grease but it seems to pay off.

 

[mjclark]

Look for a finer B-hone if you want to take the down-dirty method a bit further.

Or - refinish the top of the one/s you have with a finer grit w/d after lapping it perfectly flat.
1k w/d does nice things to a b-hone.
Warning - that can take some serious elbow grease but it seems to pay off.

Ah ha- the other side of the perforated hone is flat.
Could I refinish that, so the perforated side is 8k and the other side a bit finer?

This is a great suggestion using resources I already have- thanks

 

[Gamma]

You could try that.
I'd probably make the perf side finer I think but maybe it doesn't matter.

 

[buca3152]

Ive read that some Jnats have tiny holes in the surface and that makes them faster/finer? Same effect here maybe.

 

[blackhhawk]

This is cool... I never see stuff like this at the shops I visit!

 

[mjclark]

This is cool... I never see stuff like this at the shops I visit!

This came from an antiques shop in Ashburton- it was the last one I visited whilst waiting to meet my daughter from work.
None of the other shops had any shaving stuff, but from this one I got the Perforated Hone, a boxed Ever ready 1912 SE and a NOS Rolls Razor blade!

Look for a finer B-hone if you want to take the down-dirty method a bit further.

Or - refinish the top of the one/s you have with a finer grit w/d after lapping it perfectly flat.
1k w/d does nice things to a b-hone.
Warning - that can take some serious elbow grease but it seems to pay off.

Thank you so much for your brilliant suggestion of refinishing the hone with w/d.
It has given me the solution I was looking for!

I refinished the flat side of the perforated hone, firstly with wet 0.6k polishing paper then wet 1.2k paper, then dry.
I honed the Suprema 3/8 and a Langley 6/8 30 laps on the 8k perforated side, then finished with 20 laps on the refinished flat side and the result was excellent.
After plenty of stropping, those razors were the sharpest they've ever been and I got a DFS with the Langley tonight.

I've got some n00b questions:
1) What kind of increase in grit will I be getting by refinishing with the 1.2k paper?
2) How does this even work- why does refinishing an 8k hone with 1.2k paper make the hone finer?
Surely it should make it coarser.
3) After refinishing, the flat side felt rougher to the touch than the unfinished side- is this some kind of tactile illusion?

In any case, it has worked brilliantly and given a great finishing solution so that these razors now have a very sharp edge for a very nice shave,
Thank you again- this is brilliant

 

[Gamma]

First - stop thinking only in terms of grit. It only gets in the way.

I finish lap Jnats with 600x, works fine. Same for my 8k Naniwa.

I read an old pamphlet once, where the hone manufacturer recommended treating one side of the barber hone with a 'coarser' emery paper.
I just started fooling around with combinations of w/d and found that 1-2k w/d works well on the top/finer side.
I usually go 600x on the other side.

I can't explain the 'sensation' you noticed, I felt that the first time I did this, drives me nuts too.